By IANSlife

December 22, 2022 (IANSlife) “In 2022, despite a challenging macro-environment, Christie’s achieved its highest ever global sales. Three factors explain this performance: the resilience of the art and luxury markets, the remarkable success of several major art collections— including the unforgettable Paul Allen sale— and the expertise and hard work of our teams around the world.”

Christie’s Key Take-Aways From 2022

• Christie’s expert global team delivers highest annual total in art market history $8.4B (+17% in USD) / £7B (+34% in GBP) / HK$68.1B (+22% in HK$)
• Paul G. Allen’s landmark sale achieved $1.62B to become the most valuable collection sale of all time, 5 works sold above $100M, thousands of visitors to worldwide tour, 4M online viewers
• The most valuable 20th Century artwork was sold by Christie’s in 2022: Andy Warhol’s Shot Sage Blue Marilyn for $195M – the second highest price ever achieved for an artwork at auction
• Christie’s sold 8 of the top ten works at auction in 2022
• Christie’s sold the top 3 Collections of 2022, Allen ($1.62B), Ammann ($359.2M), Bass ($363.1M) as well as the top collection sold this year outside of the US, Hubert de Givenchy Collectionneur (€118.1M) in Paris
• Superior sell-through rate of 85% for all lots at auction, affirms strong performance for Christie’s clients
• Business and competition driven by new generation of collectors: 35% of all buyers in 2022 are new to Christie’s, and 34% of these new buyers are millennials (up from 31% in 2021); APAC has fastest growing base of new collectors
• Launch of Christie’s Ventures – new investment fund to support early-stage Web 3.0, Technology and FinTech companies with direct relevance to Christie’s art and luxury goods business
• Private Sales remain at a high level, exceeding the $1.2B (£1B) mark, the 3rd highest consecutive total ever for the platform and up 49% since pre-pandemic levels in 2019

Global demand

There has been a growth in spend at auction from all three buyer regions, matched by an increase in ‘out of market’ bought value. Americas buyers contributed 40% of the total value of global auction sales, EMEA buyers 34% and APAC 26%. Bought value has grown from each of the 3 regional buyer bases; Americas buyers spend is up +55%, EMEA buyer spend up +31% and APAC buyer spend up +10%. APAC bought value is the highest since 2015. A reflection of the ongoing international buying at auction, regardless of the location of the sale, spend from American buyers in non-US salerooms is up 10% (with a 28% increase in Geneva sales vs. 2021), EMEA buyers spend is up 71% (most striking in New York, up 78%, as a result of buying in the Allen, Bass and Ammann Collections), APAC buyers spend is up 49% (again up +60% in New York, significantly in the Allen sale, and up 100% in Geneva). Sales growth has been driven by masterpiece lots (works over $5M), with sales at this level up 84% on 2021. There were 3.6 average bidders per lot and the overall lot sell-through rate was 85%, matching the performance achieved last year. New buyers from mainland China continue to engage in our global salerooms, accounting for the highest global spend of new buyers from APAC.

Client engagement and return

Christie’s continues to achieve the strongest results for its clients with total sales of 117% against the low estimate, across all sold lots. As in 2021, 35% of all buyers in 2022 were new to Christie’s, with 65% entering via online sales and millennials accounting for 34% of all new buyers (up from 31% in 2021). In APAC new buyers increased by 9% attracted by sales of Asian and World Art and most significantly in Luxury (+23%). Luxury remains the #1 recruiter of new clients, accounting for 36% of new buyers, up 18% on 2021. Millennials continue to drive and reshape Christie’s global business, representing 21% of global buyers (vs. 19% in 2021). In our fastest growth categories - PWC, Asian Contemporary, Handbags and Watches - millennials can represent as much as 39% of buyers. Of the spend from millennials, in Christie’s global salerooms in 2022, 62% came from millennials in APAC. In Post-War & Contemporary Art and Contemporary Asian Art and Luxury categories combined, millennials accounted for 30% of buyers and bidders, their spend increasing 127% across the last 5 years (excluding NFT sales in 2021). Millennials are more likely to transact digitally and the business has adapted and innovated accordingly. Christie’s improved digital reach has been complemented by a more diverse offering of artists across our 20/21 sales, the return of Lates in London which draws a new generation of collectors, on TikTok, WeChat, Red and Instagram, meeting and engaging with these clients where they are spending their time. The online platform continues to be our #1 recruiter of new clients, attracting 64% of all new buyers to Christie’s. Just under half of all sales are now held online. Buyers were up 9% and this growth came from all 3 regions. The value of an average lot sold is $16,500, double the $8,200 five years ago. 75% of bids placed at auction were ‘digital’.

Responsible culture: diversity & inclusion and sustainability at Christie’s

The Christie’s Fund was established to broaden access to arts education and careers, as well as use our brand, platform and resources to develop and promote emerging artists and encourage greater representation of historically under-represented artists. In 2022 we expanded our partnerships to work with several new programmes. Across Europe, Christie’s worked with Dynamo Art Factory in Italy, and we remain active in our relationships with neuf-3 and La Source in France. In the United Kingdom, Christie’s continues to support Art History Link Up and Change 100, and we set up a new bursary programme for arts students in their first year at university through Manchester Metropolitan University’s First Generation Programme. In Asia, Christie’s partnered with the Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation to offer grants to female young artists, and with Hong Kong University to award its first set of Heart for Art scholarships. In the Americas, the Christie’s Fund underwrote the cost of one artist’s participation in Silver Art Projects’ 2022-23 cohort, sponsored the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art Fellowship, and hosted the Annual Leadership Series for ArtTable. We funded the Morgan Library & Museum’s Belle da Costa Greene Fellowship, and we have also continued support for Futures and Options, which provides internships at Christie’s and other arts organizations for students from New York City high schools.

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